Entertainment / Literature Glossary

Liquid: A semi-consonant sound produced without friction and thus capable of being sounded continuously in the manner of a vowel--or at least made until the lungs exhaust their supply of air. The so . . . View Full Definition

Lists: An arena or field for chivalric combat and tournaments with bleachers or balconies set to one side where nobility might sit to observe. The lists would normally have pavilions (fancy round t . . . View Full Definition

Literal: A literal passage, story, or text is one intended only (or primarily) as a factual account of a real historical event rather than a metaphorical expression, an allegorical expression of a la . . . View Full Definition

Literary Climax: (From Greek word for 'ladder') The moment in a play, novel, short story, or narrative poem at which the crisis reaches its point of greatest intensity and is thereafter resolved. It is also . . . View Full Definition

Literature Of Sensibility: Eighteenth-century literature that values emotionalism over rationalism. This literature tends to perceive feelings as more reliable guides to morality and truth than abstract principles, an . . . View Full Definition

Litotes: A form of meiosis using a negative statement. (See more under discussion of meiosis.)

Loanword: A word borrowed or adapted from another language.

Loathly Lady: The motif of a ugly hag who will under set conditions transform into a beautiful maiden, or more rarely a beautiful maiden cursed to revert to a hideous or inhuman shape under different cond . . . View Full Definition

Locative: A grammatical case in many Indo-European languages that indicates location.

Locus Amoenus: (Latin, 'pleasant place') A pleasant locale and time, traditionally a green Edenic garden on a temperate but sunny spring day--especially in the month of May. This is the traditional setting . . . View Full Definition

Locus Classicus: (Latin, 'classic place') A passage often cited as authoritative or illustrative on a particular point or subject. For instance, when it comes to explaining what a neologism is, the opening l . . . View Full Definition

Logocentrism: (lit. 'word-centered') Jacques Derrida's term for a tendency to privilege thinking based on a desire for absolute truth, which he associated with Western thought since Plato. He saw this ten . . . View Full Definition

Lollard: (possibly from Dutch, 'mumbler') Lollards were heretics in the 1300s and 1400s associated with a variety of causes including (1) translation of the scripture into English, (2) the right of w . . . View Full Definition

Long S: One Old English variation for writing the letter s that continued to be used in Shakespeare's day--even up through the 1790s. The long s looked much like the lower-case letter f without a ho . . . View Full Definition

Long Syllable: Any syllable with (1) a long vowel or (2) any syllable with a short vowel and two or more consonants following it. Such syllables typically take twice as long to sound as a short syllable--a . . . View Full Definition

Lords Rooms: During the Renaissance, the most prestigious and costly seating in public playhouses were the lords' rooms. These rooms were partitioned sections of the gallery near the 'above.' (The cost w . . . View Full Definition

Lost Generation: A group of twentieth-century authors who grew disillusioned after World War I and lived in Europe as expatriates. Ernest Hemingway is one of the more famous members of the Lost Generation.

Low Comedy: In contrast with high comedy, low comedy consists of silly, slapstick physicality, crude pratfalls, violence, scatology, and bodily humor rather than clever dialogue or banter. See comedy.

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